Clintons to Buy $1.7-Million N.Y. Home : Real estate: Five-bedroom house in Chappaqua will be the first owned by the first couple in nearly two decades.

SKANEATELES, N.Y. —  President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton have agreed to purchase a five-bedroom, 5,232-square-foot Dutch Colonial house in the tony Westchester County hamlet of Chappaqua, the White House announced Thursday.

It will be the first home the couple will have owned after almost two decades of living in government housing. The Clintons will pay $1.7 million. The owners, Dr. Jeffrey Weisberg and his wife, Cheryl, were asking $1.695 million. White House officials did not explain why the first family is paying more than the list price.

The three-story house, built in 1889, would serve as the Clintons’ legal residence should, as expected, the first lady officially declare herself a candidate for the New York Senate seat open next year. Westchester County is due north of New York City.

The house sits on 1.1 acres at the end of a cul-de-sac. Its features include a swimming pool, two fireplaces and a detached barn that now serves as a garage. The residence has a white-shingled exterior, fan windows and two wings. The top floor contains an exercise room. The back of the house has a large porch with a row of white columns.

The president and his wife are going to put down $350,000--just more than 20%--which was drawn from a blind trust established at the start of Clinton’s presidency. They secured a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage of $1.35 million from Bankers Trust Co., the White House said. The interest rate, which would be adjusted every six months, has not been locked in, officials said.

The deal is to close Nov. 1.

The Clintons’ bank note will be co-signed by Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Democratic fund-raiser and friend of the couple. A native of Syracuse, N.Y., McAuliffe was among seven golfers who joined the president on the links Thursday at a country club in upstate New York.

“We appreciate everyone who helped make our search for a new home an enjoyable experience,” the Clintons said in a statement issued by the White House press office. “We particularly want to thank the homeowners, their neighbors and the real estate brokers who have been so gracious to us throughout our search.”

Weisberg is a general practitioner who founded a chain of health clinics. Neighbors said that the Weisbergs have lived in the house for more than a decade.

Most of the first couple’s future neighbors are physicians, bankers or attorneys.

Before moving into the White House in January 1993, the Clintons had lived in the Arkansas governor’s mansion since 1983.

With Clinton leaving office in January 2001, speculation had mounted about where the couple would reside. They focused on New York state when Mrs. Clinton began considering a Senate run there earlier this year.

The vacationing Clintons spent two hours Saturday checking out the Weisberg home. “It’s a very nice house,” the president said at the time.

A few days ago, when he was asked what kind of house he and his wife wanted, Clinton replied: “Someplace nice and airy that will make Hillary happy--that’s all I want.”